Donald Grant

Biography

Inverness-born Donald Grant was brought up in Lochaber. He learned Gaelic songs from his father and regularly attended Feisean nan Gaidheal. He won numerous prizes at the National Mod and Pan-Celtic festival.At the age of 11, Donald went to St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, and while there played as part of the folk group Ho Ro Gheallaidh. He studied music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester as a major scholar and student of Christopher Rowland. During his time there he won the Eleanor Warren Salon Prize, the John Webster String Prize, a Major Scholarship and a Concerto Award. He graduated with a degree and the PPRNCM with distinction, the college’s highest accolade.

Donald won further scholarships to support a 2-year Junior Fellowship also at the RNCM and a year of study at the Hochschule in Cologne, Germany. He has performed with many prestigious Chamber orchestras, including the Scottish Bach Consort and Camerata Scotland. He is also a gifted composer.

Donald is now a member of two of the most respected young chamber ensembles in the country, The Elias Quartet and Ensemble 360, and is gaining a reputation as a top-class classical musician. He is also a popular Scottish fiddler. At the Music in the Round concerts in the Crucible Studio Theatre, Sheffield, he regularly performs both classical and traditional Scottish, introducing classical enthusiasts to the energy and joy of traditional music. Donald is a ‘true advocate as the passion he feels for the traditional music of his homeland radiates through all that he does.’

Donald’s debut solo CD is due to be released in late 2007.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help Donald to purchase his own violin and bow.